Toy



June 4, 1946. I J. G. BEZA'RK 2,

TOY I Filed Jan 28,1944

" Jaagw ;& Jaw/2 Patented June 4, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY Joseph G. Bezark, Chicago, Ill. Application January 28, 1944, Serial No. 519,988

1 Claim.

My invention relates to a toy and has particular reference to a toy embodied in a combination of parts which is designed to visualize the nursery rhyme story of Humpty Dumpty and which in performance simulates Humpty Dumpty falling from the wall.

Another and further object of my invention.

is the provision of a toy which, because of the contour of moving parts, a tumbling action is simulated and which provides amusement in the form of a visual performance which pictures Humpty Dumpty in his tumble from the wall.

Another and further object of my invention is the provision of a toy which is simple to produce, which is preferably constructed wholly of wood and which can be easily and cheaply manufactured in large quantities without the use of critical materials.

Another and further object of my invention is the provision of a toy which is so constructed that it operates by gravity and which can be set in a vertical position to operate by gravity and at the end of one operation can be reversed so as to repeat the operation, which can be carried on indefinitely by merely reversing the toy when the rolling element reaches the limit of its travel at the bottom of the toy.

Another and further object of my invention is the provision of a travelling element which has discs at the outer end which are egg-shaped, with the axis of rotation being eccentric to the discs, these discs being mounted in pairs, one on each end of an axle, with the discs being positioned in such manner that the eccentricity of one disc is placed exactly opposite to that of the disc on the opposite end of the axle, so that in effect the discs are balanced, but because of the eccentric effect the rolling action of discs simulates a tumbling egg, irregular in its movement from the top of the wall to the bottom thereof.

Another and further object of my invention is the provision of a toy which can be easily painted and decorated to simulate Humpty Dumpty in appearance in that the discs are egg-shaped in contour and the main body of the toy can be decorated to illustrate a wall, to be adding to the effect of Humpty Dumpty tumbling from the wall.

These and other objects of my invention will be more fully and better understood by referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings, and in which- Figure 1 is an elevational view of my new toy; and

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on lines 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring now specifically t0 the drawing and in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, a body member ID is provided which is preferably made of laminated wood to avoid war-page and splitting and'whichadds to the life of the toy, with end members Hand I2 being provided which have recesses in one face thereof into which the ends of the member [0 are received with nails l3, l3 or other similar fastening devices being provided by means of which the end members II and I2 are secured to the main body member I0. These members II and I2 are selective bases for supporting the member H! in a vertical position. The members H and I2 are duplicates of each other so that the body member II] can be placed on any table or on any other level surface and supported in vertical position upon either of these members. Extending transversely of the body member I!) partially thereacross is a raceway H! which also extends substantially from the top to the bottom of the body member '10. This raceway is preferably inclined from the horizontal at an angle of about 18 to 22 and generally is in the form of a plurality of Vs with rounded apices, so a continuous passage is provided from one end of the raceway to the other. The raceway l4 extends substantially from one side of the body member I0 to the other and also approaches each end thereof at the top and bottom with sufficient clearance so the rotating member hereinafter described will not strike against the members II and I2.

Mounted in the raceway i4 is a movable member comprising a pair of discs l5 and 16 mounted on the outer ends of an axle I1, the discs l5 and I6 being preferably made of laminated wood similar in structure to the body member ID, while the axle I1 is also preferably made of wood and is fitted into recesses l8, l9, extending partially into the discs I5 and H3 at one side thereof and may be held in frictional engagement in the discs or may be glued or otherwise secured in fixed relation to the discs [5 and I6. The discs I5 and I6 are counterparts of each other in size, shape and contour and are egg-shaped, their edge contour defining an irregular ellipse, particularly as shown in Figure 1 of the drawing, with the recesses l8 and I9 being slightly eccentric to the axes of rotation of the discs 15 and IS, with these discs being so placed on the axle I! that the eccentricity of one disc is balanced by the eccentricity of the 3 other, so that while in effect both of these discs are eccentrically mounted on the axle, they are in efiect in balanced relation with respect to each other.

The outer face of each of the discs is decorated in such manner as to simulate a human face in caricature, while the body member ID is decorated with surface markings to simulate a wall and which in effect visualizes to the child's mind the effect of Humpty Dumpty and also of the wall.

In assembling the toy the raceway I4 is preferably cut through the body member ID, the axle I! inserted in one of the discs with the axle being inserted through the raceway l4 and the other disc placed upon the end of the axle with the surface of the raceway over which the axle rolls being left somewhat roughened so the axle will not easily slide on this surface, but frictional resistance to sliding will be prevented by the fact that the raceway is somewhat roughened and the axle being preferably made of wood will have a tendency to rotate rather than slide in the raceway. As the device operates, referring to Figure 1, when the rotating member is at the top of the raceway it will revolve by gravity in a clockwise direction as indicated by the arrows until it passes over the end of the converging raceway and rolls or drops down onto the raceway extending in the opposite direction, when the direction of rotation will be changed to counterclockwise and the rolling member will proceed to the opposite side of the body member ID, when the reverse operation takes place, until the rolling member finally reaches the end of the raceway. In this position the toy is reversed and set upon the other edge member, when the toy thereupon again travels to the bottom of the body member and this operation can be repeated as often as may be desired.

Because of the eccentric character of the discs, in the reversal of the movement from clockwise to counterclockwise, an irregular path is defined by the rotating discs which because of its irregularity produces the more clear illusion of a tumbling egg rather than merely the rotative circular action of a disc, and this tumbling illusion is accentuated by the fact that as the rotating member reaches the raceway at each side thereof it reverses its direction of rotation, thereby keeping and adding to the tumbling illusion described in the nursery rhyme.

While I have herein described and upon the drawing shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may comprehend other constructions, arrangements of parts, details and features without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A toy comprising in combination a wall member of substantial thickness, support members of greater width than said wall member, said support members secured to the said wall member at each of its ends to form selective base members, the said wall member having a continuous runway therein composed of sections angularly disposed to the transverse axis of the wall and to each other and in. communication with each other at at least one of their ends, and a movable member mounted in said runway comprising an axle and a disc member on each end of said axle, said runway having a roughened' track surface thereon, said axle having a diameter approximately one-half the width of said runway, and said discs being mounted eccentrically on said axle, the eccentric portion of one disc being located reversely with respect to the eccentric portion of the other disc, whereby said disc members and axle are caused to rotate in one direction through several complete revolutions while said axle traverses one section of said runway and whereby said disc members and axle are caused to rotate in an opposite direction through several complete revolutions when said axle traverses. an adjacent lower section of said runway.

JOSEPH G. BEZARK. 

